The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Why Ezedi was granted UK asylum
NEWCASTLE man Abdul Ezedi was granted UK asylum by a judge who accepted that he had converted to Christianity, despite concerns that the convicted sex offender was a liar, court records show.
An array of previously confidential documents have revealed why the man who police believed to carry out the Clapham chemical attack earlier this year was able to seek refuge in the UK despite his criminal conviction.
In a rare turn of events, immigration tribunal court papers laid bare the lengths that the Afghan native went to in order to evidence his religious conversion from Islam to Christianity – as well as how some people who supported him through his asylum process were aware of his crimes.
Ezedi’s body was pulled from the River Thames last month, after a major man hunt was launched to track him down. It comes after the 35-year-old was suspected of hurling an alkali substance towards his former girlfriend and her children in January.
It later emerged that the wanted man had avoided jail for a previous sexual offence, sparking a widespread debate about the role of religion in determining asylum across the UK – while raising questions about how the Government and courts scrutinise the validity of evidence presented in applications.
In a ruling dated November 10, 2020, Judge WK O’hanlon – sitting in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) – said: “Having considered all of the evidence before me, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.”
The documents were released on Tuesday following a court grant on submissions from the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, the Times, the BBC, The Independent, and the PA News Agency.
Ezedi arrived in the UK back in January 2016, but his initial asylum claim was shot down by the Home Office.
A later appeal was also rejected by the courts the year after.
He was handed a suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court on January 9, 2018, after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and exposure, placed on the sex offender’s register for ten years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work for his crimes.
On March 19, 2019, he challenged the decision again by lodging an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal, arguing that he feared persecution because of his religion. The papers confirm his claim was granted after a hearing in Newcastle on October 28, 2020.
Lawyers representing Ezedi argued he had ‘converted from Shia Islam to Christianity (Baptist).’ The documents said: “The punishment for this in sharia law which is practised in Afghanistan would be execution.”
However, during proceedings, the Home Office’s legal team said that the Government department did not accept the validity of Ezedi’s conversion, questioning if it was ‘genuine and long-lasting.’